Review: Corsair H115i PRO LCS cooler

We already checked out the H150i PRO, Now it's time for the Corsair Hydro Series H115i PRO. The dual-fan 280mm model of the AIO Liquid cooler series that Corsair releases. With a tiny bit of RGB, bli...

The problem I've had with any self-contained liquid cooling solutions for CPUs that I've tried from NZXT Krakens through Corsair solutions (tried just about every one up to the 110i) is the fans get so darned loud I can't stand it. All the reviews said these things were quieter than anything else and it never turned out that way for me no matter the case ambient temperature. I used these things for 5 years, exclusively, swapping them out one for another and couldn't find one of which I could stand the sound.
Then I turned to the NH-D15 and couldn't believe the difference. It controlled temps better. Max temps were 10C lower at load than the 110i and the fans multitudes quieter than any of the self-contained liquid cooling solutions I have used. I hate the big chunk of metal blocking everything in my case and I've sliced a finger a few times on the fins while working around the NH-D15, but hands down it's done a better job than any of the pre-built liquid solutions I've tried.
If this Corsair is really that quiet, it would be worth a try.

The problem I've had with any self-contained liquid cooling solutions for CPUs that I've tried from NZXT Krakens through Corsair solutions (tried just about every one up to the 110i) is the fans get so darned loud I can't stand it. All the reviews said these things were quieter than anything else and it never turned out that way for me no matter the case ambient temperature. I used these things for 5 years, exclusively, swapping them out one for another and couldn't find one of which I could stand the sound.
Then I turned to the NH-D15 and couldn't believe the difference. It controlled temps better. Max temps were 10C lower at load than the 110i and the fans multitudes quieter than any of the self-contained liquid cooling solutions I have used. I hate the big chunk of metal blocking everything in my case and I've sliced a finger a few times on the fins while working around the NH-D15, but hands down it's done a better job than any of the pre-built liquid solutions I've tried.
If this Corsair is really that quiet, it would be worth a try.

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Uber, You mention 5 years old, and that = ancient in hardware land. I run the Kraken X62 on my primary graphics card test rig as setup in silent mode (5960X 8c/16t @ 4.2 GHz), it CANNOT be hard whatsoever. Same with this Corsair kit, tweak fan RPM with the fantastic ML fans (like I advise) and you cannot hear this kit.

Uber, You mention 5 years old, and that = ancient in hardware land. I run the Kraken X62 on my primary graphics card test rig as setup in silent mode (5960X 8c/16t @ 4.2 GHz), it CANNOT be hard whatsoever. Same with this Corsair kit, tweak fan RPM with the fantastic ML fans (like I advise) and you cannot hear this kit.

If I turn the fans to max on my 115i it's like my PC is about to take off (2400 RPM on 140mm fans!!!).

They do cool excellently (and my 5820K at 4.4GHz requires a LOT of cooling), but if my case wouldn't be so sturdy I would be afraid it would collapse, that's how strong an airflow they create.

Now that it's winter I can have a more relaxed profile in Corsair Link, however in summer when it's getting to 30-40 degrees celsius ambient temp I increase RPM a lot and I'll just use my headphones more often, so I can cancel out the noise from the fans. That or I revert to stock clocks. #1 reason why I hate summer.

If I turn the fans to max on my 115i it's like my PC is about to take off (2400 RPM on 140mm fans!!!).

They do cool excellently (and my 5820K at 4.4GHz requires a LOT of cooling), but if my case wouldn't be so sturdy I would be afraid it would collapse, that's how strong an airflow they create.

Now that it's winter I can have a more relaxed profile in Corsair Link, however in summer when it's getting to 30-40 degrees celsius ambient temp I increase RPM a lot and I'll just use my headphones more often, so I can cancel out the noise from the fans. That or I revert to stock clocks. #1 reason why I hate summer.

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Delidding your CPU with liquid metal is the thing to do if you really hate the noise during the Summer, I got a 13 degC drop in temperature by doing so - it's a real boon to realise that you don't have to run your fans anywhere near max - since doing so all the fans in my case (CPU/GPU/case fans) never spin more than 75% (I've configured it that way). I know delidding invalidates your warranty, but if you value silence it's a no brainer. Combine a good air cooler or liquid cooler with a delid, and you're set!

EDIT: although if your room temperatures is 40 degC then you probably need to spin the fans faster regardless, but in the region of 15 degC drop in CPU temperature is not to be sniffed at. Max room temperature I've had is 27 degC.

Delidding your CPU with liquid metal is the thing to do if you really hate the noise during the Summer, I got a 13 degC drop in temperature by doing so - it's a real boon to realise that you don't have to run your fans anywhere near max - since doing so all the fans in my case (CPU/GPU/case fans) never spin more than 75% (I've configured it that way). I know delidding invalidates your warranty, but if you value silence it's a no brainer. Combine a good air cooler or liquid cooler with a delid, and you're set!

EDIT: although if your room temperatures is 40 degC then you probably need to spin the fans faster regardless, but in the region of 15 degC drop in CPU temperature is not to be sniffed at. Max room temperature I've had is 27 degC.

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Yeah it sucks, it's a combination of hot summers, small gaming room and sun shines in all afternoon (and the at night it's actually still hot because of the asphalt cooling). I have the AC on most of the time, and that one alone is noisy too so yeah...

I'm too afraid of deliding, and I'm still pissed that people have to do this, especially for high end CPUs which cost a ton and should have this done by default.

I wanted a new cooler and my sister and wife bought me The Hydro H150i PRO RGB for xmas, this cooler is great, very quite and the zero rpm works great, the cooler block is quite big thought, I'm running on a ROG RAMPAGE VI APEX with 32gb ram and i9-7900X, delidded and overclocked to 4.7, the temp are not bad at full throttle gets to around 70 + never gone above 75, and most part to 55 to 65, Origins gets the most heat when playing, I must admit though since the microcode bios update for the intel problem it seemed to have pushed up a bit as before never went above 68

interesting.
in the US, you can get an Asetek (Enermax) 240mm aio from about $70. couple that with the two pack of the Corsair ML 120 ($40) to get the same thing as the 240mm version of Corsair's for $50 less, with "rgb" and w/o corsairlink

The problem I've had with any self-contained liquid cooling solutions for CPUs that I've tried from NZXT Krakens through Corsair solutions (tried just about every one up to the 110i) is the fans get so darned loud I can't stand it. All the reviews said these things were quieter than anything else and it never turned out that way for me no matter the case ambient temperature. I used these things for 5 years, exclusively, swapping them out one for another and couldn't find one of which I could stand the sound.
Then I turned to the NH-D15 and couldn't believe the difference. It controlled temps better. Max temps were 10C lower at load than the 110i and the fans multitudes quieter than any of the self-contained liquid cooling solutions I have used. I hate the big chunk of metal blocking everything in my case and I've sliced a finger a few times on the fins while working around the NH-D15, but hands down it's done a better job than any of the pre-built liquid solutions I've tried.
If this Corsair is really that quiet, it would be worth a try.

Click to expand...

I only had a h115 from corsair but my experience is the same, even with maglev fans from corsair, it gets loud, dunno if its too warm in my apartment but i moved to the nh-d15 and temp wise not a whole lot of difference ,but noise related its night and day, noctua is really quiet. But i like overclocking high, and decided 4.6-4.7 ghz isnt enough but i dont want to delid, so i bought a custom loop from EK, can't wait to get home and assemble it, it's my first ever.

Yeah it sucks, it's a combination of hot summers, small gaming room and sun shines in all afternoon (and the at night it's actually still hot because of the asphalt cooling). I have the AC on most of the time, and that one alone is noisy too so yeah...

I'm too afraid of deliding, and I'm still pissed that people have to do this, especially for high end CPUs which cost a ton and should have this done by default.

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Definitely, Intel should have optimised the thermal interface between the silicon and the IHS - delidding brings so much improvement in temps that Intel's current solution is far far away from being optimised, and it almost makes a mockery of people buying high end coolers in a bid to get reasonable temperatures!

I only had a h115 from corsair but my experience is the same, even with maglev fans from corsair, it gets loud, dunno if its too warm in my apartment but i moved to the nh-d15 and temp wise not a whole lot of difference ,but noise related its night and day, noctua is really quiet. But i like overclocking high, and decided 4.6-4.7 ghz isnt enough but i dont want to delid, so i bought a custom loop from EK, can't wait to get home and assemble it, it's my first ever.

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/offtopic:

Take your time assembling/installing/testing and enjoy it! 480mm+240mm D5 here.

I just installed this a few hours ago and it's dead quiet, my old cooler was H100i v2 and, like so many others, the pump died after 1 year.

My cpu is hard to cool because I've got it OC'd so high but I'm using the noctua NT-H1 instead of arctic silver and I haven't seen temps go past 45c while using prime 95, my old cooler I would hit 60-63c.
That's with "balanced" on everything, I tried the zero rpm mode and the fans stopped as expected but temps went way up so I'm sticking with balanced for now.

My only gripe about this cooler, and yeah it's my fault because my case is so old, the radiator mounts would not line up with my cooler master HAF case, my case is an old one but my previous H100i V2 fit perfectly.

I think I bought this case in 2011 and have never had a legitimate reason to buy a new one until now

Yeah it sucks, it's a combination of hot summers, small gaming room and sun shines in all afternoon

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My study/gaming room suffers from being too bright & hot on warm summer mornings, I got reflection on my Dell U2711 even with the blind closed. Solution? Window film = much less solar gain and no reflections on my monitor.